What is it with investors and Under Armour (NYSE: UA)?

Last quarter, I thought people had finally got it into their heads how fabulously successful a company this is, when the company trounced the growth numbers at Nike (NYSE: NKE) and Columbia Sportswear (Nasdaq: COLM), posting a 75% increase in earnings per share. Today, this Motley Fool Rule Breakers recommendation topped even that performance, growing sales 24%, high-margin direct-to-consumer sales 60%, and more than doubling per-share profits to $0.07.

Investors' response? After an initial round of polite applause, they bid the shares down nearly 2%.

Now, I get that the market is "forward looking." I understand that investors want to see not just strong results, but even stronger promises about what a company is going to do in the future. (Albeit, as I've pointed out in the past, that's just not the way Under Armour works.)

Performance ... and promise
But even if you value promises over performance, Under Armour delivered on both fronts. The company raised guidance on full-year revenue (to roughly $1 billion), for 17% year-over-year growth, and upped earnings projections $0.06, to $1.12 per share, for 22% growth.

This gives us our clearest glimpse yet on how phat direct-to-consumer margins help fuel earnings growth. It also suggests that Under Armour's gamble of shifting away from traditional retail outlets like Cabela's (NYSE: CAB), Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE: DKS), and the college bookstores run by Barnes & Noble (NYSE: BKS), is indeed paying off. Even as direct sales are driven by "Factory House store growth," Under Armour reports that it's enjoying "strong retail comparable store sales" through traditional outlets as well. So... both the cake and the eatin' are good. And if comps at the retail outlets remain strong, that should keep Under Armour's partners happy and on board with the strategy as well.

A couple caveats and quibbles
Now, I'm not entirely happy-happy-joy-joy over Under Armour, and I don't want to make it sound like I am. Reviewing the report, two things do still irk me -- first and foremost, the apparent failure of Under Armour's venture into cobbling. The lower-margin athletic shoes venture is still foundering, with sales down another 4.5% year over year. And of course, my long-running complaint about Under Armour's failure to include cash flow statements in its earnings reports remains in effect.

To be perfectly honest, it's only this lack of up-to-date cash flow information that prevents me from owning the shares today.

Well, that and the Fool's disclosure policy. Per the rules, Rich can neither buy nor sell Under Armour shares for 10 days after this article posts. As of today, Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above.